Turning Diamond Film Into Solar Cells

Timothy Fisher is taking a Tiffany’s approach to converting sunlight into electricity: with a $348,000 grant from National Reconnaissance Office, the assistant professor of mechanical engineering is exploring the use of polycrystalline diamond as a replacement for the silicon solar cells currently used in many space applications. Polycrystalline diamond films can be made artificially from methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, through a process called chemical vapor deposition.